Any update on the spyderco bushcraft knife? Sal?

Hi Gazaati,

"In-the-works". O-1 blade steel, the first one will be a true "Scandi grind". Blade thickness was changed from 4mm to 3mm, per Chris Claycomb. A sheath has been designed. I'm waiting on a final proto, then we begin cutting steel.

sal
 
sal said:
Hi Sean,

welcome to the Spyderco forum. "When" is not a question to which many here feel there is no real answer:rolleyes: .

First there is the "what", then the "how to", then development, protos, tooling, testing, refinement, "glitches". Then we deal with "when". By the time the answer arrives, few remember the quetion. :o

We're trying to improve that, but as a small company coming out with 20 or so new models each year means that we're developing 50 at any given time. A big chore for just a few people.

Hey Joe, I really don't know where it's going. Ken brought up the question, so finding an answer seemed logical. Certainly the discussion is interesting, if not exciting.

We're still trying to capture a portion of the fixed blade market, so we're open to customer input. The Moran and the Kumo are still about, Temperance is gone and the Vagabond is going next year.

Next year we have 4 Hossom designs (fixed blade versions of his "Retribution" folder in 5" - 9" blade lengths, no clips ;) ) and 2 Schempp designs. There is a "hole" in our offerings for a small utility pattern that is a "general" purpose outdoor blade.

I think the "bushcrafter" concept can provide the pattern. Variety in materials, steel, grind, etc. can offer two versions that fill both needs.

If I had to guess:

There will be a spearpoint pattern in 52100 with a ???? grind, natural handle material, (probably some very nice wood), Leather sheath designed by some of the bushcrafters on the BCUK forum (Red, Tiffers, etc.), if they're willing? They're far better experienced to create a solution to that question than I am.

Once that is nailed down, We create a "NASA" version (as Martyn, on BB calls it). Exotic stainless, full flat or hamaguri grind, carbn fiber scales, Kydex sheath, etc. of the same pattern.

I certainly appreciate everyone's input. And I also apreciate Ken's asking the question. A bonafide "trouble-maker".

We have had offers of designs by experienced bushcrafters which is certainly a time saver forus on the design end, assuming they meet our ergo requirements, which tend to be a bit anal, but bushcrafters seem to be also anal about ergos, which is a good thing.

sal
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That is a two-year old post from the factory forum, and a LOT can change in two years. I thought the choice of 52100 for the first Mule may have been to discover any production problems they were likely to encounter using the steel for the Bushcraft knife. Sal has posted that he uses 52100 when he forges, but there is a pretty big difference between hand-forging a single blade and cutting, grinding and heat-treating a few hundred blades. They may have found the steel unsuitable for such mass production. I may also be completely wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
 
I thought I read somewhere that some of the guys Sal is working with preferred o-1. It might have been a different forum. 0-1 is plenty good for me in knives, fixed, folders , it doesn't matter. I could see how some would prefer it.

If I recall these guys were talking about the ability to sharpen it on rocks and such. Joe
 
I hope that Sal doesn't mind me jumping in.

He chatted to me back in February about the use of 52100 and it had already been shelved for the Bushcraft knife at that time. As I understand it, there were two reasons which you can take in whatever order you like. First, when 52100 was used on another project, it rusted at all points during the manufacturing process and they had to come up with new methods, such as alcohol dips, to just keep corrosion in check. Second, because of the availability of manufacturing capacity, the knife is to be made overseas and Spyderco would have had to arrange shipping of steel. I think Sal said that the 52100 flat stock was made in Europe, that it would then have to be shipped to the US, then back overseas for the knife to be made...all the time its trying to rust!

The prototypes that were ready for the SHOT show were made of O-1 and D2. Despite some folk saying how well they liked their D2 Charles May scandis it was felt that the difficulty of sharpening that size of a single bevel in D2 was going to put off more people than would be attracted.

I don't know anyone who seriously talks about sharpening a scandi bevel on rocks, but ease of sharpening in the field is a big issue and O-1 doesn't take the same work that some of the fancy high alloy steels do.

Have any of you seen the prototypes?
 
hmm, the rusting issue would almost seem moot, O-1 isn't exactly stain-resistant on any level, either.

I have no problem with O-1, none at all. Was just wondering why the change was made. Thanks for the info.
 
Thanx for jumping in Chris. We always appreciate the interaction between the designer of a model and our customers.

I might add that 0-1 was already easily available in the country of manufacture.

It's been a long (they always seem to be :o) but fun and educational project. Chris was our "guest speaker" at the last UK meet in Leeds in February.

When a knife is designed for a function and we can hear the design parameters and purpose from the creator of the design, the design takes on a spirit of it's own.

sal
 
I'm not sure 01 is much better in terms of corrosion resistance. I have a couple of kitchen knives in 01 and it they will rust quite quickly. I think 01 is good choice for this knife whatever the reason.
 
It would be nice to see pictures of the prototype if possible. It's been interesting learning more about the background of the project, and how descisions were made.Can't wait to see the finished product. Joe
 
C_Claycomb said:
Have any of you seen the prototypes?
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no, we haven't. but really want! i've seen some pictures of your knives on www.synobyte.com and www.britishblades.com and i must say - cool knives! especially this:
PICT3407.jpg


i'm looking forward to seeing photos of prototypes as soon as possible!
 
C_Claycomb said:
Have any of you seen the prototypes?
Click to expand...

Yes, handled it at the A'Dam show. Liked it a lot!! Handle was very comfortable, except for the wood that had shrunk a bit and exposed the tang. Has a decision on wood for the handle been made?

Ted
 
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